Watch Adele’s Grammy Awards Tribute to George Michael

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2016 was a brutal year for pop music fans, taking away David Bowie and Prince from us far too soon. But before the year was done, it took another beloved ’80s icon from us when singer George Michael died on Christmas Day at the age of 53. If you grew up in the ’80s like I did, George Michael was an icon on par with the biggest names of the MTV era.

At this year’s Grammy Awards, pop goddess Adele, who grew up idolizing George Michael, payed tribute to the late singer with a beautiful rendition of his 1996 single “Fast Love.” Things didn’t exactly go smoothly for the “Hello” singer at first try, and mid-performance, she stopped abruptly and started to swear, with producers cutting her sound briefly, right before she said, “I know it’s live TV; I’m sorry I can’t do it again, like last year. I’m sorry for swearing. I’m sorry for starting again. Can we please start it again? I’m sorry — I cant mess this up for him. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for swearing! I’m really sorry. Sorry.”

After a brief pause, Adele took a moment to get it together, although clearly still very emotional, and she then restarted her version of the George Michael hit, and the audience went wild. After finishing her tribute, the crowd got up and gave Adele a deserved standing ovation. The lesson here: there is nothing wrong with admitting you screwed up and starting from scratch to make sure you do it right. You can watch Adele’s performance of “Fast Love” below.

What did you think of Adele’s emotional tribute to George Michael? Let us know down below in the comments.